The Pima County Sheriff's Department in Arizona is facing a wave of anger after posting an update on 16 April that read 'Nancy has been located,' fuelling hopes that missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie had been found, only for it to emerge that the post referred to a different woman entirely.

Guthrie, mother of US TV anchor Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Catalina Foothills home near Tucson on the evening of 31 January. She was reported missing the following day. The case has since drawn intense media attention in the US and beyond, not least because of her daughter's public profile and the baffling lack of clear leads.

Almost three months on, theinvestigation has narrowed to painstaking forensic workinside Guthrie's home, while her family and viewers of NBC'sTodayshow have been left waiting for answers.

The latest controversy began when thePima County Sheriff's Departmentposted an update on X on 16 April. The message read simply: 'Update: Nancy has been located,' accompanied by a missing-persons flyer bearing a large 'LOCATED' stamp. The woman in the picture, however, was not Nancy Guthrie but 82-year-old local resident Nancy Radakovich, who had also been reported missing that day.

Update: Nancy has been located.https://t.co/bS6yuRL1J3pic.twitter.com/pVX7Xz5ekK

Radakovich was described in an earlier appeal as a 'vulnerable adult' who had disappeared near River Road and Campbell Avenue in Tucson on 16 April. Local reports said she had last been seen in a bright pink jumpsuit and black sandals, driving a silver Toyota Avalon. She was found safe before 8 p.m. that evening.

The language of the follow-up post, though, barely distinguished between the two women. The flyer, with 'LOCATED' splashed across it in bold letters, partially obscured the face of Radakovich, and the post's wording did not include her surname. For many people following theNancy Guthrie case, the wording was enough to spark a jolt of hope and then confusion.

I LITERALLY THOUGHT THIS WAS NANCY GUTHRIE. THE WAY MY HEART JUST DROPPED!

Comments under the post quickly turned hostile. One user wrote, 'You need to fire your social media manager. This was so out of touch!' Another added that given the global coverage of the Nancy Guthrie case, the department 'did not have any discernment to revise the headline with the surname of Nancy.' The same user noted that even after complaints, the wording was not updated.

'I'm embarrassed for my town. How disgusting! Making post as click bait?!' another commenter said, accusing the sheriff's office of chasing engagement. They went on to point out that 'all the other missing persons posts' from the department had previously included first and last names.

Source: International Business Times UK